Taking Of Any Game Fish Full Of Spawn

[Mr Q]

   Seeing that I'm a release basser, I occasionally do take home a large bass for cooking but never one full of spawn. I know this question may bother a few members who do take Bass full of spawn without any internal injuries. Perhaps their waters are abundant with Bass and can easily take the loss of spawning bass.

 

   Around where I live, good bass ponds are few and far between and I not only keep them secret but never take a spawning bass unless it swallows the hook (a rare case when the hook is set quickly) because with these small ponds, the bass population is small and does not need any more population compitition from us fishermen.

 

   So how do you feel about taking bass full of spawn and why?

[Patrick Morrow]

That`s a interesting term - full of spawn. I get what you mean, but never heard this term before. Same here too, I always release all that I catch during spawn. I know that most of the guys do the same, even those who are not usually practice catch-and-release.

[georgeyew]

This might be a stupid question. How do you tell the difference between a bass that is full of eggs vs a fat bass with a big belly?

[AllTerrainAngler]

This might be a stupid question. How do you tell the difference between a bass that is full of eggs vs a fat bass with a big belly?

I'd say ask but.... you never ask a woman her weight...

[jbsoonerfan]

Full of spawn????

I understand, just never heard it put like that.

[Penguino]

Lol full of eggs. But in actuality, its pretty hard to tell the difference between a fat chunky bass and a bass full of eggs. But anyways, in the spring I usually never take home bass. I only do that occasionally in the fall.

[00 mod]

Bet this guy is also a trout fisherman.  Very common to call eggs spawn.  The easiest way to tell is by season, although we know that is never a 100% sure way to know.

 

My take on it is this, I would never do it.  But if someone chooses to keep a bass, caught within a legal season, by legal means, and is a legal fish, it is his/her right to do so.  There are thousands of bass spawning around the same time period each year, and to think that just 1 bass will ruin a lake is asinine. Like I said, I would never do it, but all things taken into consideration- it is their right just like it is yours to release the fish.

 

Jeff

[Bluebasser86]

My best suggestion is to not take large bass like the OP mentioned. The bigger a bass is, the more likely it's a big female that could be full of eggs. Time of year is also a good tip off as to whether it may or may not be full of eggs. Keep fish that are just an over keeper size to 2 or 3 inches over keeper sized, they'll taste better anyways. Better yet, if you have any slot lakes nearby, keep the "unders". We have several slot lakes nearby that I try to encourage people to keep the fish under the 13" mark as they're overpopulated. 5 12-13 inch bass should be more fish than a couple people can eat anyways. 

[wytstang]

I don't do it and it's not my business to tell others not to.

[jiggerpole]

 

^{I catch and release allot of the time. It depends on where I fish and what type of bass it is and if the lake needs some bass harvested or not. I don't have any problem killing a bass to eat. Eggs or not. They are good in the skillet.}

 

^{I manage one lake that is at a crossroad now, with the question of should we continue to harvest or catch and release. Two scenarios can play out at this point. The lake is full of 4 and 5 pounders and it has plenty of forage to justify catch and release, but at some point harvest will be necessary to maintain the health of the lake. If we continue to harvest the bass, the ones that remain will get even bigger with less bass in the lake. Less competition for food. If we practice catch and release the lake will support more 3 to 5 pounders in  greater numbers but you will not have as many 7 to 9 pounders. It all depends on what you want out of a lake. Personally I get tired of catching the dinks and prefer to manage for quality bass. Catching 3 to 6 pounders is great and you still catch the dinks, just not as many. I ask fishermen what they want and they tell me more bass, but a chance to catch ten pounders and we all love to catch the 4 plus. It's hard to have it all. So if I say Catch and release and everyone does it then we create a bass crowded condition. If I say harvest then the wrong bass may get took out of a lake. It's a judgment call on every bass.}

 

^{Some lakes are big enough to manage themselves without our help and others need our help to stay healthy.  It's your call!}

[Mr Q]

   All good points for sure. From where I am fishing, almost all pomds (very small lakes) most likely have small populations and due to the ponds' size.  Since the "spawn" (what we locals here call the egg laying season)  season is fairly short, we think it best to preserve our game fish by not taking these females, though some people do and, at least around here, are usually frowned upon.

 

   I'm sure my views and practices on the subject of taking females full of eggs are reflected by the number and size of our local ponds and maybe wrongly think that other parts of the country do the same. This was the reason for the OP question.

 

   Of coarse, when a fish of any kind is taken legally, all bets are off. Here in MA there are many people who don't play by the rules for both salt and fresh water game fishing and that's not right. Licenses are growing more expensive eact couple of years and with a growing need to build houses everywhere, I'm afraid those awesome lunker catching days will soon be over in this neck of the woods

[Crutch]

The issue where I am is that we have a lot of Amish that take anything they catch. Big or small. There is only one lake I will harvest out of.